


BoyzTober2020

by afablefromanothertime



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Demons, Dragons, Ghosts, Halloween, Horror, M/M, Moonbae, October, Potions, Pumpkins, Rain, Spooky, Tattoos, Witches, apple picking, boyztober, cauldrons, challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:48:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 12,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26756044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afablefromanothertime/pseuds/afablefromanothertime
Summary: 31 day October 2020 challenge of spooky and fall themed prompts! Written as short one-shots that are all connected(in plot, not pairings).
Relationships: Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Lee Sangyeon, Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Choi Chanhee | New/Ji Changmin | Q, Choi Chanhee | New/Kim Younghoon, Choi Chanhee | New/Lee Juyeon, Choi Chanhee | New/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall & Ju Haknyeon, Kim Sunwoo/Son Youngjae | Eric, Kim Younghoon/Lee Sangyeon, Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae/Lee Juyeon, Lee Juyeon/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Lee Juyeon/Son Youngjae | Eric
Comments: 15
Kudos: 104





	1. Rain

_“Achoo!”_

The witch’s sneeze makes the couch tremble. The black cat crouched by the door takes off down the hall. The witch wipes his nose dejectedly.

Jacob peeks around the corner. “Is it safe?” 

Kevin burrows into his pile of blankets. “Safe for _you.”_ He sneezes again, that violent sneeze that makes the empty mugs of tea float off the coffee table for a moment before settling back down. The hood of Jacob’s sweatshirt lifts up before settling back down against his carmel locks. 

Kevin gratefully accepts the steaming mug of tea being offered. 

“I told you not to go out when it’s raining so hard,” Jacob chides him, wiggling down into the pillow nest.

“I had to get those ingredients for Chanhee, though! You know how important it is to keep up a steady import and export no matter the weather,” the witch sniffs in indignation. 

Luckily, witch colds can’t be caught by humans. Jacob leans forward to adjust the pillows behind Kevin’s head when the witch sneezes again. All over Jacob’s hoodie.

“Nice.” Jacob sits back to stare at the offending article of clothing. 

“Guess you’ll have to take it off now,” Kevin says cheekily, never one to pass up the opportunity to flirt.

Jacob shakes his head. “You are a _menace,_ Kevin Moon.” But even the dark of the rain storming away outside can’t hide the fondness of his smile.


	2. Smile

Hyunjoon slurps loudly on his straw, trying to reach the last drops of pumpkin smoothie. “I mean, okay. But they don’t have to be so _obnoxious_ about it. All lovey-dovey, I mean.” He swipes his tongue over the lid of the cup, watching his companion out of the corner of his eye. “Like, have some pity on the rest of us.”

Haknyeon bursts out laughing, hand flying up to cover his mouth. His grin fades almost immediately, and he sits back, leaves crunching beneath him as he fights to contain his smirk.

“Why do you always do that?” Hyunjoon blurts.

“Hm?” Haknyeon runs a hand over the damp grass. “Do what?”

“Cover your mouth when you smile.” Hyunjoon tosses his empty smoothie into the trashcan six feet away and hits the woah when it lands inside. “What are you hiding in there?”

“What? Nothing,” Haknyeon laughs again, nervously this time. Once again, his hand flies up to cover his grin.

“You’re doing it right now.”

“Am not,” Haknyeon tries, but he only laughs harder. 

“Are you self-conscious or something?” Hyunjoon asks, tone growing serious.

Haknyeon shrugs, trying to smile it off but he’s still keeping his hand in front of his face. 

“Take that hand away. I dare you. Do it.”

“What?” Haknyeon’s eyes flick towards him nervously. “Why? It doesn’t matter—”

“I know, but I’m curious.” Hyunjoon folds his arms behind his head. “Just put your hand down. Lemme see what happens.”

“Well….” Haknyeon seems to debate the pros and cons of the simple request. “I guess.”

He lowers his hand and immediately the smile disappears.

“Not what I wanted,” Hyunjoon points out. “Cat got your teeth, or something?”

Haknyeon laughs. “You know that’s not how it goes—”

Hyunjoon grabs his hand midsentence, fighting against Haknyeon as he tries to lift his hand to his mouth. 

“See?” Hyunjoon says, eyes caught on Haknyeon’s face even as he grips the older boy’s hand in his own. Haknyeon can’t stop his grin now, their eyes locked on each other.

“There’s that beautiful smile.”


	3. Angel

Kevin kept to himself most of his life. There was no point in forming attachments if everyone would hurt him or leave him. 

The one exception was Chanhee. The other witch understood him. They worked together, laughed together, cried together. But he would never give the kind of relationship Kevin had always yearned for. 

“Do you have anything for a sick cat?”

Kevin had been working the shop on his own when the boy had come in. Definitely, distinctly human, tanned skin, high cheekbones, the most beautiful sparkling eyes Kevin had ever seen. This inferior specimen had taken his breath away.

“This is an ultranatural apothecary,” Kevin had said warily.

“I know, but— well, I found this kitten out in the rain and I think she’s got a cold so I figured this place might have something that could help…” The boy trailed off. “Maybe not….”

Kevin wasn’t in the mood to be a good samaritan, but the boy was cute and he figured being nice couldn’t hurt just this once.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Oh— oh, thank you! Thank you so much….”

Kevin just shook his head as he sorted through the medicines in the back. What kind of human went this far just for a sickly little kitten they found in the street?

“Oh, let me help you with that.” 

Kevin looked over his shoulder. Mrs Lee, a regular customer getting on in age, was coming through the door juggling several boxes at once. The human boy immediately took them out of her hands. 

Mrs Lee’s wrinkled face split into a kindly smile. “Thank you, young man.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. He reached for the bottle of medicine, elbow brushing against a bottle of dried sage. The bottle tipped over and the sage went spilling all over the floor. 

Kevin cursed and bent to scoop it up. 

“Here.” The human boy was suddenly crouched behind him. “Let me help.”

Kevin huffed. “Fine.”

“You work here all by yourself?” The boy asked.

“Not usually.”

“Ah. You should let me know what hours you work.”

“Huh?” Kevin stared at the human, still focused on picking up the pieces of sage. Was this human flirting with him?

“Why….?”

“Well, maybe I could give you a hand. You see, I have a terminal illness, so I don’t have many months left.” 

Kevin stared at him. The boy smiled at him. 

“So I’m trying to help as many people as I can. Make a difference in a good way, you know?” The boy tipped the rest of the sage back in the jar. “So… about that medicine?”

Kevin could only blink. With only a few months left to live, instead of wallowing in self-pity and depression, this human had enough awareness to put his life to good use? How…?

Kevin wordlessly handed him the medicine. When the human fumbled for his wallet, Kevin found himself saying, “It’s on the house.”

“Oh!” The boy looked up in surprise. “You’re too kind.” His hand closed around the medicine. Skin smooth and golden. His hands looked warm.

Kevin had the urge to ask him to stay. To talk. To tell him more.

“I’m Jacob,” the boy said with a bright smile as he turned to leave.

Before he could think it through, Kevin blurted, “No, you’re an angel.”


	4. Dragon

_A dragon, really? Who even owns a dragon these days?_

Chanhee squints at the note in his hand. It was good money, at least. A list of ingredients for a potion he’d made last night, slipping it into a glass vial and corking it quickly before the purple fumes could escape. It wasn’t a potion he’d recognized, but for this kind of money, he won’t ask questions. 

He has the potion vial tucked into a pocket of his cloak as he hikes through the forest. He regrets taking up the job now that he knows it involves so much exercise.

Chanhee isn’t sure what he was expecting. A tall tower, maybe, with a princess trapped inside. A castle surrounded by a lava moat. But not this dejected creature staring at him with the most dopey, puppy-looking eyes he’s ever seen.

The dragon is maybe ten feet long, scales a shimmering lilac, wings folded along its length. The twisted horns reaching up from its majestic head are black, as are its six inch talons. 

It’s beautiful.

“Uh, hi,” Chanhee says cautiously, inching closer. “I’ve got something to give you….”

The dragon seems surprisingly mellow as he inches closer. It doesn’t move its head from where it rests on its massive forepaws. Does a dragon have paws? Lizardy hands, maybe.

Chanhee slowly pulls out the potion. The dragon’s head snaps up in interest.

“Easy there,” Chanhee says nervously. “I just need you to drink this for me….”

Miraculously, the dragon seems to understand. It sniffs the vial dubiously. 

“Sound okay?” Chanhee asks with a halfhearted laugh.

The dragon blinks at him. 

“Cool. Uh, open up, I guess.”

The dragon tilts its head back and cracks open its jaws.

“Um. Do all dragons understand humans?”

The dragon shakes its head.

“Wow. Okay. I have questions. But I’m not sure you’ll be able to answer them.” Chanhee dumps the contents of the potion down the dragon’s throat. “Hope that wasn’t poison or anything.” 

The dragon is still for a moment. Then it shudders, body shaking and eyes squeezing shut tight.

“Uh oh.” Chanhee staggers back. 

The dragon curls up into a tight ball. Its body seems to fold in on itself, until its form becomes much smaller. It unfurls itself, but now—

It’s no longer a dragon. It’s now a boy with long limbs and dark hair falling into his eyes. He looks up at Chanhee, and the witch loses his breath.

The boy’s face is long and inquisitive, every feature thoughtfully crafted, every piece a part of a whole. He’s even more beautiful than the dragon.

Chanhee has lost his words now.

“Hi,” the boy says. “I’m Younghoon.”

“Uh,” says Chanhee. He faints.


	5. Wisp

The light flickers in front of him. Changmin can barely see it, the faint blue glow darting between the overlapping trunks and branches. 

He weaves between the trees, cloak flapping behind him. For a moment, the wisp winks out and he panics, but a second later and it’s back again. He continues his pursuit, travelling farther and farther from the town as he ventures into the woods.

Spotting a wisp is rare. It’s part of why Changmin has always been so fascinated by them. 

The elf pulls his hood over his pointed ears against the light drizzle. He has to catch up to it, not to capture it, but just to observe it. To confirm that it’s real, that he’s not obsessed with a fantasy. 

Or maybe that fantasy is in fact reality. 

If witches and dragons and dead men walking can be real, if Changmin himself exists as an elf, why can’t even a fairytale’s fairytale be true?

Oh, to see the looks on everyone’s faces if he can prove he saw a wisp.

The flickering light vanishes into a cave, barely more than a sliver between two rocks. 

Changmin grins at the tiny crevice and molds his body into a shape slim enough to slip inside. 

There’s the wisp, floating before him, tempting him, leading him on. He grins, and with a toss of his cloak, gives chase.


	6. Boom

“Just a little… more….”

“Doesn’t the recipe only call for three drops?” Jacob peers suspiciously over the cauldron’s edge.

“Yes, but a little extra frog juice can’t hurt!” Kevin protests. 

“Isn’t it flammable when mixed with eye of newt?” Jacob points out.

Kevin sits back and folds his arms. “What would _you_ know?”

Jacob huffs. “I’ve learned a lot from watching you work!” He swats the witch’s arm affectionately. “I pay attention to you.”

“Oh.” Kevin tugs at a strand of hair. “That’s nice of you.”

_Boom!_

The apartment shakes. Kevin is knocked off balance, careening sideways into Jacob’s arms. The light fixtures above them sway, the tables rattle and the chairs threaten to tip over. Jacob eyes the TV nervously. 

The cauldron is bubbling over, smoke fumes pouring from its surface.

“Think you had a little accident there,” Jacob remarks once the rumbling stops, helping his boyfriend to his feet.

“How was I supposed to know that would happen?” Kevin sulks. 

“I dunno, maybe because I warned you?” Jacob runs a hand through Kevin’s dark hair. 

“I was supposed to have this potion done this afternoon,” Kevin pouts.

“Then you better get started on redoing it,” Jacob laughs. Kevin’s just too cute when he’s sulky.

“But how can I do that when I have to clean this all up?” Kevin wails.

“Aren’t you a witch? Don’t you have magic?”

Kevin blinks. “Oh, right!” He closes his eyes and pictures the apartment at an earlier time when everything had been in order. He snaps his fingers and returns their home to that state.

“What would I do without you?” Kevin muses, hands on his hips.

“Explode yourself, probably,” Jacob observes. 

“Yeah, probably.” Kevin stretches his ams above his head. He walks towards his supply cupboard, already parsing through the ingredients for another batch of potion. “Maybe I should try extra _eye of newt_ instead….”


	7. Apple

The deep red of the fruit contrasts sharply against the stark white of his hand. Chanhee turns the apple over in his hand before dropping it into the basket.

“How many more do you want?” Younghoon grunts beneath him. The witch is perched on the former dragon’s shoulders, slim arms stretching high as they could up into the far branches of the apple tree.

“Just a few… more….” Chanhee reaches up until his slender fingers are nigh indistinguishable from the tiny stems the trembling leaves hang from. A ripe, glossy apple hangs just out of reach. 

“Can’t you just summon it down from the tree?” Younghoon huffs. Chanhee swats him upside the head.

“That defeats the purpose. You’re supposed to bake the pie with the emotion of satisfaction at your hard work.”

“Wait, that’s an actual ingredient?” Younghoon gapes as Chanhee grasps the apple at last. Its surface smooth at first look, but bumpy beneath his fingertips. He traces its skin with his thumb and bites into it. Juice bursts from its center, trickling out the corners of his mouth and dribbling down his chin onto Younghoon below. It crunches beneath the pierce of his teeth. It’s sweet. It’s perfect.

“Yep.”

“How do you even measure that?” Younghoon muses as Chanhee drops down to the orchard floor beside him. Mourning the loss of his height, Chanhee sweeps down and scoops up the basket, tucking it under his arm in the safety of his cloak.

“Like this.” Chanhee perches on his tippy toes to plant a sticky, apple-flavored kiss to Younghoon’s cheek. 

“W— I— Do you— Is that—” The taller boy flounders for words. “Okay….”

Chanhee snickers. He takes another bite of the apple. 

Hmm. It’s sour now.


	8. Home

Jacob collapses onto the chair, chest heaving as his breathing returns to normal. After an exhausting day of work it’s all he can do to keep himself from falling asleep right then and there.

But there’s one last thing he has to do.

His heart, if it could still beat, would be pounding in his chest right now. A reminder of the way he left work as frantically and quickly as he could once he realized what time it was. It was time to go home, and he’d be damned if anything kept him from home longer than necessary.

But it doesn’t beat any longer. It doesn’t have to, nor does he have to breathe, but he chooses to. He chooses to because it reminds him of how it felt to be alive. He doesn’t have to, though, thanks to the witch in the room down the hall. Jacob forces himself out of his chair and drags his tired feet towards the faint sounds of potion mixing.

He doesn’t have to _be_ alive to feel alive. He feels alive every time he opens the door to this study and sees the beautiful creature before him. 

Kevin is bent over his grimoire, taking notes on the potion bubbling beside him. The witch turns when his boyfriend nudges the door open. 

Kevin’s face splits into a smile. “You’re home early.”

Jacob crosses the room and curls up in Kevin’s lap. The witch’s soft laugh tickles the strands of hair on the back of his neck. 

“Wanted to be home,” Jacob says simply, blinking his wide doe eyes innocently.

“You didn’t have to come interrupt me when I’m working then,” Kevin teases. His smile is gentle and filled with love.

“Course I did,” Jacob points out. Wrapped in each other’s arms, they might as well have been one being. Curled in the study chair and safe from the world. “I’m only home whenever I’m with you.”


	9. Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter contains some nsfw content.

Lips, licked over smoothly again and again out of habit. Out of nerves, more likely.

Teeth, clenched and grinding against each other.

Tongue, swiping in and out between the lips, too anxious to sit still.

Sunwoo’s mouth is restless, but not nearly as much as the rest of him. He paces the wooden hall, floorboards creaking beneath his socked feet. He cracks his knuckles and shakes out his hands anxiously as he waits. 

Finally, the door jolts open. Sunwoo spins at the noise. 

Eric bustles his way through the door, laden down with bags of groceries. He sets down the bags and adjusts the wire rim glasses on his nose. He looks up when he spots Sunwoo staring at him.

“What?” He asks.

Sunwoo pounces.

His lips find their place against Eric’s, parting the other’s mouth while his tongue finds a home inside. 

His hands tangle themselves in the dark locks of Eric’s hair, feeling the smooth strands glide over his fingers. 

His heart, his legs, his feet, every other part of him is forgotten. They might as well have not even been there at all. 

All he can feel is Eric’s fast breathing against him, how plush and soft and yearning his lips are. Sunwoo dives deeper, sucking those lips in between his teeth and biting down gently.

Eric lets out a soft keen that makes Sunwoo’s gut growl in pleasure.

He lets his lips leave Eric’s mouth and explore. He ventures down Eric’s jaw to his neck, past his throat, nosing aside the boundaries of clothing to nip at his collarbone. 

But then they return home, finding their place under the heat of Eric’s gaze, pupils blown wide. Burning from the passion of desire but compensated with the cool of comfort. 

Their bodies are aligned, connected with a kiss, the space between them filled. Nothing more is necessary. Nothing more is needed.


	10. Cemetery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning for mentions of death and illness

The wind blew crinkling leaves past with startling force. Kevin wished everything would slow to the tempo at which he saw the world.

Time seemed to tick by slower. The few months they’d gotten together had been… everything. More than everything. If only he hadn’t been dumb enough to take up that cute human’s offer when he asked if Kevin could use a hand around the shop.

Kevin set his basket down beside the gravestone and settled down in his long black trenchcoat. He brushed debris off the grave and traced the letters carved into the stone. 

_Jacob Bae_

_1997 - 20XX_

_Beloved son and brother_

Kevin’s fingers stopped at the last words. _And boyfriend, assholes._

But they’d never gotten the chance to tell anyone, had they? No, because Jacob’s illness took him away before they could. 

If only there was some way to give them more time. To let him have Jacob again. 

They’d decided against cremating him… although the decision was still in the works… the funeral was only yesterday….

He’d have to work fast.

Oh, but how to explain it to his family?

_Doesn’t matter,_ Kevin thought as he returned with his tools. _They’ll thank me later._

The potion bubbled a frightening red. Kevin had never brewed something so delightfully _wrong_ looking in his life. Because, of course, such a brew was forbidden. 

That just made him more determined not to screw it up. 

It had taken a minimal amount of magic to raise his lover’s body from the grave it had been tucked so carefully away in. 

The key was his soul. It was sleepy now, not yet ready to leave its host. Kevin had to coax it back awake. Entice it to reawaken its body in a twisted form of life. 

A beating heart wasn’t necessary. Breathing lungs weren’t necessary. Kevin made sure to include necessities like the taste of food, the feeling of arousal. Jacob would never live a life of misery or discontent. 

He spared a glance at his beloved’s face as he worked. _No matter how difficult, it’s worth it for you._

Kevin wasn’t going to let go of his happiness so easily. Nor was he going to let it rot away beneath a cemetery.

It was going to live.


	11. Red

Chanhee opens the box cautiously. It’s candy apple red, wrapped with a burgundy ribbon. Someone had left it on his bed this morning. 

He sets the lid aside and reaches down to move aside the red cloth nestled inside. He pulls it out, wondering what he’ll find underneath, and sees…

Nothing. 

Curious, he examines the cloth in his hand instead.

It’s a cloak, he realizes. A cloak of deep red with a velvet hood. But why? There’s no note, he muses, turning it over in his hands. 

Well, he does have errands to run today. Might as well test it out.

There’s a wolf he has to visit in the woods, and perhaps a fancy new cloak is just the thing he needs to introduce himself to a handsome stranger. 

He slides the cloak over his shoulders. It fits his frame perfectly, hugging his slim figure and shadowing his face. It makes him look mythical and mysterious. 

Chanhee does a spin despite himself just to see it twirl. 

Well, that’s enough glamour. Time to head out.

He grabs his basket of potions, nestled above his spellbook, all the necessities a witch could need. The freshly baked apple crumble is wrapped up neatly beside them. Running a bakery alongside a potions business has been surprisingly successful. 

He sets off along the forest path. The trees bend and whisper around him, the birds taking flight as he passes them.

The red cloak that clothes him makes him feel like he’s being watched. 

Chanhee arrives at the cottage that squats in the middle of the woods. It’s not too different from his own, but there’s no smoke drifting up from a cauldron through the chimney. 

He knocks on the door. 

It cracks open just enough for Chanhee to glimpse a pair of gleaming eyes. 

“My, what a beautiful cloak you have.” A voice that sounds like liquid silver greets his ears. 

Chanhee pulls his wares out of the basket and presents them to his customer. “The better to serve you with, of course.”


	12. Leaves

Sunwoo stomped his feet as he walked. The grass was springy and the leaves were crunchy. He toddled forward, revelling in the freedom of being out by himself. He was seven years old now, and his mother finally, _finally,_ let him play outside on his own. 

There, right in front of him— in the middle of the park, beneath the shade of a lonely tree, was a tempting pile of crunchy red and orange leaves. 

Sunwoo’s face split into a broad grin. He tugged his tiny hands out of his coat pockets and charged forward.

Sunwoo’s feet picked up speed, carrying him closer and closer to the pile until—

“Hi!”

Sunwoo came skidding to a halt. His legs flew out from under him and he flailed into a heap on the ground. A few leaves drifted into the air, but the pile remained otherwise undisturbed. 

A head was poking out of the massive pile of leaves, blinking at him curiously.

Sunwoo huffed at seeing _his_ leaf pile already claimed. 

“Do you wanna play?” The boy asked. 

Sunwoo stared.

“I’m Eric.” The boy rolled around in the pile, scattering the leaves everywhere.

_You’re ruining it!_ Sunwoo wanted to shout. It was perfect….

The boy sat up and started pulling the leaves towards him. He’s rebuilding it, Sunwoo realized. 

“I’ll get out if you want to jump,” the boy offered. Sunwoo looked back at him in shock. “Or….” the boy blinked shyly. “We can jump together.”

Sunwoo found himself unable to look away from Eric’s wide-eyed gaze, the sweet innocence of his smile. 

“Okay.”

Eric climbed out of the pile, and the two of them set to rebuilding it together. They stood back, satisfied. The perfect pile of leaves, ready for jumping. 

Eric grabbed his hand, threading his longer fingers together with Sunwoo’s. Sunwoo felt his face warm despite the chilly autumn day. 

“Ready?” Eric tugged them back so they could get a running start. “Okay… on 3! 1…”

Sunwoo tightened his grip on Eric’s hand. 

“2…”

The two glanced at each other. Standing in their own world, building their own adventure.

“3!” 

They took off, and in a whirlwind of red and orange and giggles and laughter, the world exploded in a barrage of leaves falling around them.


	13. Sparrow

Hyunjoon wiggles farther out on the branch. There’s nothing particularly strange or even interesting about a raven, but he finds them so fascinating.

They’re like crows, and he loves crows of course, but well… bigger. And shinier. 

They’re the most intelligent form of bird he’s observed. Hyunjoon tugs his pocket notebook out of his coat and spreads it out on the branch in front of him. It’s difficult while lying on his stomach, but he manages to get out his binoculars too.

Now, where was—

Wait. It was just there. Hyunjoon removes the binoculars as if that’ll help him see better.

The raven is gone.

Instead, there’s an ordinary sparrow. There’s nothing strange or even interesting about a sparrow at all!

Hyunjoon raises his binoculars again, but he can’t find a single bird about besides the sparrow. He watches as it hops closer to a picnic bench. What does it want there….?

A hand flashes into view, dropping crumbs of bread as the sparrow hops about delightedly. 

Hyunjoon can’t help the smile that spreads across his face. 

He watches the little bird peck pieces of bread out of the hand’s palm. Hyunjoon traces the hand up its arm and tries to focus on the person’s face, but he’s facing away. Hyunjoon feels a stab of disappointment. 

Then the person stands, and he turns. Hyunjoon’s stomach drops.

They’re the cutest fucking person he’s ever seen, and Hyunjoon almost drops his binoculars because he _can’t stop staring at how pure that smile is, how bright his eyes shine and how softly he’s looking at the little bird—_

Hyunjoon leans farther, farther, farther towards the boy until the branch tips beneath him— no, he’s the one tipping— and he topples ungracefully onto the ground.

He was hoping to slink away unnoticed, but he caused such a fuss that the boy looks towards him.

“Are you alright?” The boy calls, making his way to where Hyunjoon is attempting to remain dignified. 

“Totally fine,” Hyunjoon sniffs, gathering his things. “I did that on purpose.”

“Oh, yeah. I could tell.” 

Something about the way the boy’s eyes are sparkling tells Hyunjoon that no amount of bullshit would ever work on him. 

“I’m Haknyeon.” 

Hyunjoon watches him warily as he stands.

“You like birds?”

“Um, yeah. Sort of a hobby of mine.” _For no reason in particular, because you wouldn’t believe me if I told you why—_

“That’s cool! Me too. I’ve never met a human-aves before.”

Hyunjoon freezes. “How did you—”

“Well, it’s just— no offense, but you kind of look like a very large crow?”

Hyunjoon raises an eyebrow.

“I didn’t mean it like—”

Hyunjoon bursts out laughing. “Okay, okay, you’ve got me there.” He regards Haknyeon with a bit more warmth.

Haknyeon turns up the watts on his smile. “So how about you tell me all about it over lunch or something?” 

Damn, that was smooth— and Joon can’t even be mad. He pockets his notebook and pushes the sparrow to the back of his mind as he follows Haknyeon out of the park. Maybe the smallest and least significant symbols do have meaning, after all.


	14. Tea

“Morning!”

Sangyeon looks up from where he’s inputting the current customer’s order. A dusting of pink immediately floods his face.

The customer second in line is waving at him cheerfully. 

“Hey,” Sangyeon stammers. “Uh— I’ll be with you in a moment.”

He turns away quickly to slide his customer’s cup towards the other workers while they pay. He hopes Jacob can’t see how much he’s blushing under his visor. 

“Um, hi,” he finally manages to say when he’s turned back around and faced with Jacob beaming at him. “The usual, Cobie?”

“Yep!” The younger boy bounces on his feet as he pulls out his wallet. “Rose, vanilla, strawberry, honey boba!”

Sangyeon punches in the order he has memorized by now— inputting it every day he works here does that to him— and makes a note to add more sweetness than Jacob asked for. Really the only way he can impart his feelings.

“Anything else I can get you?” _A date? A kiss? A fucking confession?_ Not like Sangyeon has the guts to try for any of those. 

“Um, yeah!” 

Sangyeon blinks up at him in surprise. Jacob never asks for anything else, it’s just habit. He’s been coming in every day Sangyeon has worked for the past month and a half. Seeing him every morning is what gets Sangyeon out of bed most days.

“Could I… um….” Jacob shifts his weight. The customer behind him clears their throat. Nobody’s happy with him holding up the bubble tea line on a Wednesday morning. 

“Maybe… get… your number?”

Sangyeon drops the plastic cup along with the open sharpie he’s holding. It drags a long line of black ink down his arm in retaliation.

“Um— I— it’s just—-” Sangyeon scrambles to pick everything up. “Sorry, I—”

“Sorry, was that— it’s just—” Jacob scratches his head. “Was that not okay?”

“No, no, don’t worry about it—” Sangyeon scribbles his number onto the cup. “Totally okay.” The amount he’s smiling right now definitely isn’t, though.

“Cool.” Jacob moves out of the way. “I’ll call you, then.”

Sangyeon’s heart is thumping. He can’t believe a month ago he was thinking about quitting this job, when it just gave him the best thing that’s ever happened to him. 

But now he can’t wait to get off his shift, to check his phone repeatedly for the rest of the day, waiting for the call from the cute boy who ordered his tea from him every morning.


	15. Teeth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a continuation of Day 11: Red

“Would you like to come in?”

Chanhee wavers on the doorstep. The werewolf peers at him through the crack in the door. 

“C-come in?” Chanhee doesn’t understand.

The wolf reaches his hand through the door to take Chanhee’s goods. “You’ve come all this way. How would you like a cup of tea?”

The witch squints for a look at the wolf’s face, but he can’t see past the shadows.

“Sure, I guess.”

What’s the harm in a blind date? If the guy gets handsy Chanhee can always curse him.

The door swings the rest of the way open and Chanhee is ushered into the cozy cottage. The wolf shuts the door behind him. 

Chanhee turns to greet his host. He loses his breath somewhere along the way.

The werewolf is tall, dark hair swept to one side and showing off a sidecut. His face is delicately shaped, with a long nose and inquisitive eyes. Chanhee opens his mouth and closes it again.

“Let’s see, what did I ask for again?” The werewolf reaches into Chanhee’s basket and pursues the wares. “Let’s see, wolfsbane drought, okay, okay….”

Chanhee stands awkwardly in the entryway. He glances around. The cottage is homey, walls decorated with what looks like woven tapestries and hand-painted pottery covering every surface. Chanhee shifts his feet on the rug and looks down at it. His heart jumps in his throat as he sees it’s a wolfskin rug. Why—

“Oh, right. You’re here. Sorry.” The werewolf turns around with an apologetic grin. “What type of tea do you like?”

“Um— anything’s fine,” Chanhee stammers.

“I was waiting for quite a while,” the werewolf remarks as he busies himself in the small kitchenette. 

“Oh, my apologies, it took quite a while to procure—”

“Not for the potion,” the werewolf interrupts smoothly. “For _you.”_

“For… me?” Chanhee feels like he’s missing something.

“I was lucky to find this cottage so close to yours.” 

Something shifts in Chanhee’s head, but he still can’t quite place it.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” The werewolf turns back around, a sad smile transfixed on his face. “A curse’ll do that to you.”

“The curse….” Chanhee always felt like there was something he’d missed when he recovered from his unfortunate curse. He’d never thought it might be _someone._

Finally, it clicks. The feeling of arms around him, encircled in front of the fire, the sharp sting of fangs—

“Juyeon,” he breathes.

Juyeon grins. Those sharp canines Chanhee always loved, always poked with his fingers and begged to feel on his skin. There they were, beaming at him.

“You got my gift.” Juyeon steps forward and runs a hand down the sleeve of Chanhee’s cloak. “It looks beautiful on you.”

Chanhee can’t comprehend how this can be happening. How Juyeon can be _here,_ after everything that happened, after Jaehyun’s curse. 

He lurches forward, throwing his arms around Juyeon’s neck and kissing him fiercely. He can feel Juyeon’s laughter beneath him as the wolf slides his arms around Chanhee’s waist. He lifts the witch into the air and spins him around.

Chanhee pulls back and traces his thumb over Juyeon’s lip, pulling them back to reveal his canine fangs.

Juyeon dips his head to Chanhee’s neck and nuzzles over the soft skin.

_“Oh, my….”_ Chanhee cringes at himself but can’t help the emotions pouring over him at feeling _Juyeon,_ once more. The werewolf looks up at him inquisitively. “What sharp teeth you have.”

Juyeon grins sharply. “The better to bite you with, my love.” And he sinks his teeth into his lover’s neck.


	16. Wave

“You ready to get movin’? It’s time to catch some waves!” 

Eric feels himself being jostled awake. “Hnngrjff?” He mumbles in response. 

“Yeah, we gotta get to the beach by dawn!” Juyeon is far too chipper for it to not even be _dawn_ yet. 

“No thanks,” Eric murmurs, snuggling into his pillow.

A pair of large hands close around his ankles. Eric’s eyes fly open a moment before he’s dragged out of bed by the feet.

“Juyeon Juyeon Juyeon, that’s _enough—_ Come on, knock it off already!”

“Today’s our bro-bonding day,” Juyeon points out as he drops Eric somewhere in the living room. “Surfing vibes!”

Eric rolls up and rubs his eyes. “Yeah, I guess.”

He trails after Juyeon as the older boy packs the car. He tosses their boards in the back and loads their lunch into the middle row seats.

Juyeon flips his sunglasses over his eyes and starts the car. “You ready, bro?”

Eric starts to grin. “Yeah, sure.”

To be honest, he’s not all that excited about bro-bonding day. It was more fun in theory, waking up before dawn to catch some waves. Now he’s having second thoughts. 

Juyeon punches the radio on, and to Eric’s delight, there’s a Taemin song playing. It lifts his mood more than he was expecting.

The sun begins to creep over the horizon just as they arrive at the beach. The sand splays out before them, a rolling stretch of glittering gold. And the ocean.

Waves crash against the shore, almost uninhabited. As Eric watches, the sun hits the reflective surface of the water. It explodes into shimmering waves of peach and coral, crashing against the sand in majestic arcs.

“Wow,” Eric says, sitting up. 

“Told you it’d be incredible.” Juyeon parks the car where they can overlook the beach. “You ready, little bro?”

This time, Eric’s grin comes smoothly. “Totally.”


	17. Pen

Kevin taps the pen against the page. 

_Think please, brain,_ he thinks. _Would like you to think!_

He finally got a break from his potions and thought he’d return to poetry, one of his oldest pastimes. But no matter how many times he clicks the pen in his grasp and chews at the end of it, inspiration does not come.

His usual muses come from everything in the world around him, but he’d been swamped with work lately and hadn’t gotten the chance to get out and about.

So he is left with the things in his house to turn to.

Well, here in his study there are many vials of ingredients. Some dried up, others floating around in various colored liquids. Nothing really draws his eye back to the paper in a moment of inspiration.

Noises coming from the living room draw his attention. Jacob is moving around a lot in there, and—

_Jacob._

God, the perfect muse. His mannerisms, his voice, his eyes, his face, his hair, even his hands, his touch….

Kevin shivers.

He lowers his pen down to the paper now. The strokes come quickly. First is a sketch. He traces the lines of Jacob’s face from loving memory, every detail clear as day even when he closes his eyes. 

He knows that face, traces his fingers down it every night before he falls asleep, fixes his eyes on it as a safe place to look when he’s scared, turns to it when he’s lost. 

Kevin sits back and takes a breath, feeling himself flooded with warmth as he stares down at the sketch. He’s gotta hide it soon as he’s done before Jacob can find it and tease him about it.

The words flow from his mind unbidden, barely needing a thought before they come pouring out. They come from a place deep inside him, nestled beneath his ribcage. It comes naturally. It feels right. 

Kevin runs his fingers over the page, careful not to smear the fresh ink. It’s heartfelt, and as critical as he can be of himself, he’s proud. 

Not proud enough to show Jacob, though. He smiles as he tucks the poem carefully into a drawer and folds the sketch underneath it. 

He leaves his study for the night, stretching his arms high over his head as he heads in search of cuddles from his boyfriend.


	18. Goodbye

Juyeon hovered in the doorway. His shadow fell over the desk, startling the boy entranced in his school work occupying it.

“Juyeonie!” Jaehyun lurched backwards, hand clutched to his chest. “God, you scared me.”

“Sorry.” Juyeon grinned sheepishly, but the smile fell when he remembered what he’d come in for. “I need to talk to you, actually.”

Jaehyun’s eyes grew concerned. “What is it? Something wrong?”

The pure worry and innocent dedication in his eyes made Juyeon’s stomach lurch.

He wasn’t strong enough to do this.

But then he thought about the pink-haired witch occupying his thoughts and his dreams at night, and how unfair it would be to go on with Jaehyun like this.

When he yearned for someone else.

“I think it’d be best if we go our separate ways.” Juyeon held his breath.

The nervous smile on Jaehyun’s face fell. “W-what?” He said with a forced laugh. “You’re joking with me, right?” Jaehyun’s eyes searched his face, but would never find the truth he was looking for. 

“I’m sorry, but it just can’t work out between us,” Juyeon tried to impart desperately. “It’s not because of you—”

“Then what, why?” Jaehyun whispered, eyes lost. “What did I do? What happened?” His voice was wavering, and it made Juyeon want to reach for him, but he couldn’t, he shouldn’t. 

“It was nothing you did,” Juyeon said, voice cracking. 

“Then— then let’s just try a little longer, okay? Maybe things will get better—” 

Juyeon shook his head and stepped back as Jaehyun reached for him.

“It won’t—”

“But how do you _know—”_

“I’m in love with someone else.”

Juyeon wanted to punch himself the second it was out of his mouth. The werewolf could’ve picked a thousand better things to say. 

“....Oh.” 

And Juyeon watched as Jaehyun’s heart positively broke right in front of him.

“Oh,” Jaehyun said again. He sat back down. 

“I’m sorry,” Juyeon said, even though he knew it wouldn’t help anything. “I think… maybe I should go.”

Jaehyun gave him a helpless look in response. 

Juyeon backed up until his back hit the wall. “Goodbye, Jaehyun.” He ducked out of the door before he could break down.

Jaehyun sat in stunned silence. It had come out of nowhere. What could have possibly happened so quickly….

Ah. That witch. The one that worked at the flower shop and sold potions. It _had_ to be. 

Jaehyun shifted his work aside and pulled out his spellbook. His thoughts were filled with smug smirks and pink hair and Juyeon’s smile wider than it ever was with him.

Jaehyun flipped through the spellbook until his finger landed on the curse he was looking for. Nothing too permanent. His memories would come back _eventually._ But right now all Jaehyun could focus on was the bubbling jealousy in his chest and the gaping wound in his heart waiting to be filled with tears.

An eye for an eye, or, well… _my_ everything for _your_ everything.

Jaehyun recited the words of the spell quickly, a smile falling across his lips as he spoke the name of its recipient. 

_Choi Chanhee._


	19. Morning

Changmin blinks his eyes blearily. It’s not nearly time for morning yet.

The mattress beneath him is so plush, the pillows so soft and the blankets so warm. The sun streaming in through the curtains heats his face and reminds him, _it’s time to wake up._

Changmin burrows deeper, hand creeping through the blankets to find the warm body that should be beside him. 

The bed is empty.

That alone is enough to spur Changmin into a sleepy sitting position. He positively rolls out of bed and nudges the bedroom door open.

The light is on in the kitchen, the smell of coffee wafting through his nose. Changmin follows it into the living room. 

Chanhee is curled up with a book, slowly raising his mug to his lips as he pauses to reread a phrase.

Changmin doesn’t announce himself until he’s directly behind the pink-haired witch.

He finds no necessity in words, simply draping his arms around Chanhee from behind and nuzzling his little nose into the crook of his neck. 

“Cuddle time isn’t over,” Changmin says threateningly. 

Chanhee sighs and sets the book aside with no further protest. With his lap free, Changmin clambers over the back of the couch and tumbles into the witch’s lap. 

“Good morning,” Chanhee says with a laugh as Changmin beams up at him. His dark hair is adorably rumpled, his smile dimpled while his hands grab childishly for Chanhee’s cup of coffee. 

“Good morning!”


	20. Cherry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning for mentions of illness, death, and grief

“You sure this is what you want?”

The tattoo artist looks at him with kind, narrow eyes, peering at him from behind a pair of round glasses.

“Yep.” Juyeon leans back in the chair as the artist gets to work on the stencil. He purses his thin lips in concentration, dark hair falling just slightly into his face as he focuses. He looks vaguely familiar.

“So why cherries?” The artist asks.

Juyeon blinks. It’s not his first tattoo, but he’s not used to being asked about their reasonings before.

He looks down at the sketch. A simple drawing of the fruit, one bigger than the other. The smaller one softly tied with a white ribbon, the other placed slightly in front, shielding it from harm. 

“They were my sister’s favorite fruit,” Juyeon says softly. 

“Ooh, what happened? She get into a fight with one?” The artist jokes. Juyeon squints at his nametag. It reads, in curly calligraphy writing, _Kevin._

“She passed away.”

Juyeon wasn’t expecting to be so honest with this stranger, but there’s something about the curl of Kevin’s mouth as he traces, the depth of his black eyes. Something makes Juyeon want to be candid.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s my instinct to joke.” The humor in Kevin’s eyes fades. 

“That’s okay.” Juyeon tries not to wince as the artist begins to work on the lines. “It was a while ago. This has just been sitting in my mind for a few years.”

“Well it must be important to you if you still want it after years. That’s enough for me to know I need to put in my best effort,” Kevin says with a laugh.

“Thanks,” Juyeon says. He glances down with a smile.

“Older sister or younger?”

Juyeon swallows. “Younger.”

“Oh,” Kevin says, and then barrels on. “I have an older sister. She’s kind of obnoxious, but that’s an older sister’s job. Normally you’d think little brothers are the most annoying, but she totally beat me out.”

Juyeon laughs, and immediately tries to contain it so as not to shake his currently-being-tattooed upper arm. 

“Did you two get along?” Kevin asks, voice gentle. He doesn’t want to pry, Juyeon can tell. But there’s a bond that runs between them now, from the ink being laid into Juyeon’s skin through Kevin’s slender hands and soft touch. 

“Not always.” Juyeon leans his head back. “But when she got sick, I started appreciating her more. I moved back home from school so I could spend as much time as possible with her.”

“Not everyone would do that,” Kevin remarks. “Move their life around for their sibling. No matter how sick. That was brave of you, Juyeon. That was strong.”

“Was it?” Juyeon blinks up at the ceiling fan. “If I was stronger I could have done more.”

“I don’t know what she was sick with, but I’m sure there was nothing you could have done.”

Juyeon clenches his fist against the mild pain. 

“But that sort of self-blame is incredibly common.”

“Great, now I know I’m not special. Thanks a lot.” 

Kevin grins. “So tell me more about this tattoo.” 

Juyeon turns to look at the progress Kevin is making.

“After I came home, I’d bring her a bowl of cherries every day. I’d sit by her bed while she ate them— she couldn’t really move a lot— and listen to her talk. I’d tell her about my day. She’d ask me to make up stories.” Juyeon blinks tears out of his eyes.

“How old was she?”

“Eight.”

Kevin sucks air in through his teeth. “Yikes. That’s rough.” He gives Juyeon’s shoulder a squeeze. “That’s not easy for anyone. I’m proud of you for getting through this.” He leans back to study the half-formed tattoo. “And I’m sure she’d be happy to see how you’re commemorating her.”

The tattoo finishes smoothly. Juyeon smiles down at the artwork, feeling satisfied. 

“Thanks for humoring me with your story,” Kevin calls, batting his cat-like eyes at Juyeon. 

“I’ve got more stories than that,” Juyeon reveals, leaning back against the counter on his elbows while they wrap up his tattoo. “Maybe I can tell you them over lunch some time.”

A grin spreads over Kevin’s face. “I’ll take you up on that, fruity boy.”


	21. Cauldron

“You got a soundtrack for this?”

“Hm? A soundtrack? What do you mean?”

Kevin digs around in his ingredient shelves. “You know, like, put on Double Trouble or something. _Double double toil and trouble…”_ He hums to himself while he hunts for what he’s looking for. 

“You’re really milking this,” Chanhee says dryly. “Who says we need a good soundtrack for potion making to be witchy? All we need is some incense and maybe a mood candle or two.”

“Okay, well... “ Kevin scoops up the black cat he finds curled in his desk drawer and dumps it on the floor. “Maybe I just want to embrace the witchy vibes. It’s almost Halloween.”

“I know. That’s why we have such an influx of orders.” Chanhee peers into the cauldron to see how the potion is coming. “Not quite there yet. Hey, don’t you have an undead boyfriend who could be helping us gather ingredients?”

“Don’t you have a werewolf to be pining over?” Kevin teases.

“Okay, that is not fair—”

Kevin pushes the other witch with a laugh. “Alright, truce.” They add in the last ingredients and stir the cauldron with a long iron ladle. “Let’s start packing it up.”

They gossip and chatter and bicker throughout the day as they brew batch after batch. The cauldron is deep eggplant purple, then fluorescent neon green, and then sticky orange. 

Kevin packages each bottle and vial up neatly, signing their business’s signature stamp on each box.

“The money we get better be worth all this labor,” Chanhee huffs after dropping off the third full box near the front door to go out in the mail.

“Hmm, it will be.” Kevin pats the side of the cauldron lovingly. “Just from all the people who’ll be happy to get their potions.” 

Chanhee runs a finger down the order list. “Ju Haknyeon needs a luck potion, Bang Chan needs a sleeping draught…. Hey!” He shoves the list under Kevin’s nose. “Why did Jacob order so many batches of potions?” 

Kevin blinks down at the orders. “Oh, he always does that during high-traffic times. He likes to support the business. I just give him them all for free, though. The money would just turn around and end up in his pocket anyway.”

Chanhee smirks. “Cute.” He raises his eyebrows. “So it seems you’re brewing _love_ in your cauldron as well.”

Kevin throws the cat at him.


	22. Demon

The car coughs and sputters to a stop. Sunwoo puts it in park and peers up at the house in front of them.

Eric swallows. “Well, it definitely looks like the place.”

It’s half past midnight, about a week before Halloween. The so-called haunted and _definitely_ abandoned house before them is made of wood and sits alone in the forest. It had taken over an hour to drive here after Eric found the place online. 

“There better be some pretty real demons here for all the shit we went through to get here.” Eric checks the batteries in his flashlight and tosses one to Sunwoo.

“Haha, totally.” Sunwoo swallows. “Totally want to see demons.”

Eric pauses as he opens the trunk. “What, you scared?”

_“What?_ Scared? No way, man.” Sunwoo crosses his arms and looks away. “I just don’t believe in demons, is all.”

“Not even ghosts?”

Sunwoo rolls his eyes. “C’mon, let’s just go in already.”

The front door creaks open the moment Eric touches the doorknob. “Um,” he says.

“What?” Sunwoo snaps.

“Nothing! Let’s go in.” 

It’s just as dark inside as it is outside. They switch on their flashlights and creep down the hall side by side. 

There’s an old rickety staircase above them. It disappears into the shadowy folds of whatever lies upstairs. 

A stair creaks above Eric’s head. Sunwoo jumps and a second later Eric feels a hand squeeze his arm.

_“Jesus,”_ Eric hisses. “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry.” Sunwoo releases him and huddles closer instead.

“Let’s go upstairs.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

“We came here to demon hunt, Sun, I want to see some demons.”

“....Fine.”

Sunwoo loops an arm through Eric’s as they attempt the stairs. The wood squeaks and rains dust as they test it beneath their feet. 

“I don’t like this,” Sunwoo says warningly.

“I love this,” Eric grins. He tugs Sunwoo forward as he ascends the stairs faster. 

The hallway upstairs is carpeted, releasing a thick cloud of dust when they step on it.

“It’s colder up here,” Sunwoo says warningly. 

“Probably because they don’t have heat. Come on, let’s poke around a little.”

Eric nudges open a door to what looks like a bedroom. A blast of cold air hits him like an air conditioner was just switched on.

“This place can’t have electricity, right?” Eric asks, starting to feel nervous.

“Doubt it. Didn’t the website say it’s been abandoned for almost a hundred years?”

Eric takes a step back. There’s something watching him from within this room, he knows it. He takes another step back.

The door slams in his face.

Eric shrieks and jumps back into Sunwoo’s arms.

“Whoa, what— what was that, what happened—”

“Maybe we should—”

Down the hall there are maybe half a dozen other doors. All begin to shake on their hinges, the very wood trembling in place.

“This isn’t good,” Sunwoo whines.

“Fuck this, let’s get outta here,” Eric decides. He grabs Sunwoo’s hand and the two haul ass to the front door.

Eric leaps down the stairs. He lands awkwardly on one step and almost stumbles. Behind him, Sunwoo yelps in surprise. Eric turns.

Sunwoo’s foot punched through one of the stairs, his ankle caught in the rotting wood. “These things are not up to code.” He hisses in pain as he pulls his foot back out. 

Both limping, they make it back to the car in one piece. Eric collapses in the shotgun seat, staring up at the silent house above them. All appears to be quiet now. There’s no sign of the sudden panic caused just a moment before. 

Eric leans back against the seat, closing his eyes, chest heaving as he pants for breath. Safe for now, but not quite safe yet.

Sunwoo’s foot doesn’t budge from the gas pedal the entire ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my computer glitched out and died today so im using my old laptop from 2014 but hey that dont stop the grind


	23. Fire

“Ow! Jesus _Christ—”_

“Oh, what now?”

Jaehyun held his hand close to his face. He sucked two of his fingers into his mouth, whining in pain. 

The fire crackled before them, flames licking high into the sky. Jaehyun had left a log dropped on the ground next to him. Juyeon set down the smores he was making and went to see what had his high maintenance boyfriend hurting.

“Sparks,” Jaehyun whined.

Juyeon rolled his eyes and then immediately felt guilty. He really shouldn’t be getting this frustrated with Jaehyun, but he couldn’t help but think of how Chanhee would have handled the situation better. Juyeon felt his face flush as he pictured the pink-haired witch, whiny and pouty and infinitely cuter than the man before him.

God, he was such a shitty person.

“Can you kiss it better?” Jaehyun whined.

“...huh?”

“Please?” Jaehyun batted his lashes. Juyeon felt his stomach twist.

“Um…”

The fire had been Juyeon’s idea. A plan to try and salvage their relationship. Or what was left of it, anyway. Jaehyun didn’t seem to realize anything was wrong. But Juyeon had hoped that this, the two of them spending time together outside with just the trees and the wind and the light of the fire, it would stay that way. 

“Please….!” Jaehyun was pouting now.

Juyeon used to find it cute, he figured, as he made his way around the fire to his boyfriend. When they’d first started dating, he’d found everything Jaehyun did cute. But then he’d started hanging out with Kevin, and he’d met Kevin’s coworker. Juyeon’s thoughts flooded with Chanhee even as he moved towards Jaehyun.

It hadn’t yet gotten to the point where Juyeon was saying the wrong name, late at night when Jaehyun should be the only one on his mind. But it might have been getting there soon. 

And he should really do something before it got to that point. 

But he didn’t do anything.

He didn’t mention it late the next night, when Jaehyun was sprawled beneath him and Juyeon squeezed his eyes shut tight to pretend the witch below him was dainty and delicate with hair the color of candy floss. 

He didn’t do anything about it when the name that threatened to spill from his lips was different from the one that belonged to the man with his fingers tangled in Juyeon’s hair.

He didn’t do anything about it until the fire burned brighter and brighter, until it was too hot and too dangerous to be kissed better.


	24. Storm

“Eric?”

The younger boy is just beyond the door, Jaehyun knows it. He’s been spending an embarrassing amount of time with his younger friends after the breakup. 

….Even though it’d been years.

Who knows where Juyeon is now. 

“Eric, I can hear your little sniffling noises. I know you’re in there.”

Eric seems adamant about not coming out. Another crack of thunder breaks the silence. Eric yelps from within the bedroom.

“Can I come in?”

There’s another heartbeat of silence before a muffled voice calls, “It’s not locked.”

Jaehyun pushes the door open. “Hey, kiddo.” The room is dark, all the sheets pulled off the bed to be bundled on the floor. The pile of blankets wiggles and Eric pokes his face out.

“Come here.” Jaehyun sits on the floor beside Eric and pulls the younger boy closer to him. “Are you that scared of storms?”

Lightning cracks outside the window, and Eric flinches in his hyung’s arms. “I—”

Thunder booms again, and Eric shrieks.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Let me see what I can do.” Jaehyun pushes Eric back into his blanket nest and goes to find his headphones. It’s dark in the apartment. There are dozens of pairs of shoes scattered in the entryway, and Jaehyun is fairly certain they don’t all belong to Eric. He’ll have to ask the younger boy who’s been living with him later.

He grabs his headphones and pulls Eric out of his fort once more. He slides the headphones on and scrolls through his playlist. “Hmm… there we go.”

_Flame of Love_ by Taemin begins to play through the headphones. Eric closes his eyes and leans his head down against Jaehyun’s shoulder. He’s asleep before the song is finished. 

Jaehyun smiles and tucks Eric back into his pile of blankets. He’ll nest on the floor with him tonight. Tomorrow, when the rain lets up, he’ll make sure to show Eric the rainbow that will streak the sky.


	25. Thorn

Kevin hums to himself as he drops off his keys in the entryway. He shrugs his coat off and stretches his arms over his head. He wanders into the living room and stops dead.

A small plant is sitting on the coffee table on the end of the couch. It’s new, Kevin notes. It definitely wasn’t there when he left for work that morning. 

The plant is flowering, deep red buds like roses. Its jagged emerald green stems are spiked with thorns.

And sprawled on his back across the couch, arm dangling towards the ground, thin strand of drool threatening to reach his gray hoodie, is an unconscious Jacob.

“Oh my _God,”_ Kevin says immediately, because he knows immediately what happened. Someone gave a poisoned plant to Jacob as a _joke_ (he hoped) and he’d pricked his thumb on a thorn and fallen into a coma. A la Sleeping Beauty.

“At least you’re the most beautiful princess I’d ever need to save,” Kevin whispers as he rushes into action. Antidotes, antidotes… what could an antidote for such a poison be?

Kevin shuffles through his potion inventory, wondering what could wake an undead man from a coma.

And who would _do_ such a thing? Chanhee, as a harmless prank? Jaehyun, as something more malevolent? 

Or someone who was jealous of Jacob and wanted to steal Kevin’s heart?

Well, they’d have to try a bit harder than this.

Kevin pulls three different potions and ingredient vials out of his study and hauls ass back to the living room. “Alright, if none of these work….” He places them down on the kitchen counter and sighs as he turns to look at his boyfriend again. God, what would he do if they _didn’t_ work? He’d already lost Jacob once.

Kevin turns back around to dig through a kitchen drawer. Maybe….

A sleepy voice yawns from behind him. “Whatcha lookin for?”

Kevin spins around. “But— you were—”

“What are you doing?” Jacob sits up on the couch, blinking wide chestnut eyes at Kevin innocently.

“Fuck,” is all Kevin can conjure to say.

“I was jus’ takin’ a nap,” Jacob mumbles around another yawn. “You lose something, babe?” He wipes at the drool on his chin. “Oh, check out this nice plant Sangyeon gave me. Pretty, isn’t it?”

Kevin snorts. He giggles into his palm. Then he doubles over, clutching his stomach as he belly laughs.

“What?” Jacob asks, tilting his head in confusion.

“Sorry, I just—” Kevin wipes his eyes of tears. “Can’t believe I really thought I’d get to live my own fairytale.”


	26. Curse

“So….” The counter of the flowershop is scattered with stray petals and leaves. Arching fronds drip over its edge and give the whole shop the appearance of something that has just sprung out of the forest. “Does anyone else work here?”

Kevin narrows his eyes as he enters the shop. Jacob finally convinced him to let the undead man take a shift at the counter, but now Kevin might be regretting that decision. 

“Yeah, a couple other people,” Jacob supplies helpfully. “Are you looking for someone?”

“Oh, you know,” the guy leaning against the counter says. “Everything I’m looking for is right here.”

Kevin bristles. What’s this elf think he’s doing, barging in and trying to steal Kevin’s man?

Kevin turns away from them and pretends to look for something while he digs out his spellbook. Just a little curse, won’t do any harm….

_“Cloud of mist and heart of bog_

_Will transform your feet to frog”._

Kevin snaps his book closed a second later.

The guy behind him shrieks and leaps away from the counter. Well, he leaps, because he doesn’t have any other way to move. 

“Is everything alright?” Jacob asks in concern.

“What— what did—- how—” The guy won’t stop screaming his head off and pointing at his feet, because instead of high-tops, two large slimy frogs croak up at him  
.   
“Aww,” Kevin coos. 

_“My feet are frogs!”_ The guy screams. _“My feet are fucking frogs!”_

Jacob blinks in bewilderment as Kevin cackles.

“Did _you_ do this?” The guy accuses of Kevin, jabbing a finger in the witch’s direction.

“You should’ve known better than to flirt with a witch’s man,” Kevin chides the elf.

“I wasn’t trying to hit on Jacob!” The guy wails. Kevin blinks. 

“You weren’t?”

“No! I was looking for Chanhee.” The elf’s shoulders slump as he looks down at his frog feet dejectedly. The left frog croaks in sympathy.

“Ah.” Kevin faintly remembers Chanhee mentioning something about a friend dropping by the shop when he wouldn’t be around. “You’re Changmin?”

“Yeah!” The elf brightens. Then he pouts. “Turn my feet back, please?”

Kevin sighs. He never gets to have his fun. “Oh, alright.” He waves a hand and the elf’s feet return to normal.

“Thank you,” Changmin sighs. 

“Chanhee’s taken, by the way,” Jacob says gently.

“Oh, I know.” Changmin looks up dejectedly. “I just want him to know I’m… like, always here for him, you know? Even if it’s just as a friend.” He glances between the two of them as if searching for the answer in their eyes.

Jacob is the one to place a hand on Changmin’s shoulder and give him a reassuring smile. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”

Changmin blinks. “You think so?”

“I know so.” Jacob catches Kevin’s eye and smiles. “Even if your feet aren’t frogs.”


	27. Pumpkin

The doorbell rings sooner than Sangyeon is ready for. He shucks off his oven mitts and scrambles for the front door.

He skids to a stop in front of a mirror to run his fingers through his hair. 

….He really is trying too hard.

Instead of the doorbell again, someone is knocking on the door. Sangyeon gulps and places a hand on the doorknob. Faintly, he registers the scent of smoke, but that isn’t nearly as pressing as making sure his hair doesn’t look like he just wildly dashed from his kitchen.

“Hey Younghoon,” Sangyeon says breathlessly, leaning on the doorframe and almost losing his footing as a result.

Younghoon snorts. “Hi.” He peers around Sangyeon into the apartment. “Can I come in?”

“Totally!” Sangyeon wipes the stupid grin off his face and leads Younghoon into the apartment.

“Is something burning?” Younghoon asks in concern, tugging off his shoes.

“Hm?” Sangyeon smiles pleasantly as he returns to the kitchen. “No, don’t think so.”

The kitchen is filled with smoke.

“Uh,” Younghoon says, coming to stand behind him.

“My pumpkin pie!” Sangyeon wails. He dashes towards the oven, pulling the door open. More smoke floods the kitchen. Both boys cough and wheeze. 

Sangyeon pulls a blackened husk out of the oven. He wails in distressed grief.

“Sorry about your baked good baby,” Younghoon says solemnly. “No chances of revival?”

“This was gonna be a gift,” Sangyeon says sulkily, pouting and crossing his muscular arms. 

“Oh.” Younghoon’s interest is peaked. “For who?”

“Um.” Sangyeon fidgets. “For you.”

“Oh.” Younghoon smiles warmly. “Maybe we should just get one from the store, then.”

Sangyeon sighs and shoots one last, longing look at his forsaken pumpkin pie. “Yeah, better do that.”

Younghoon smiles and threads their hands together. “We’ll make it an adventure, then!” He winks. “I’ll drive.”


	28. Flower

Sunwoo tucks the flowers the witches at the flower shop packaged up for him carefully into his backpack. Hopefully they’ll survive the ride home in time to surprise Eric after his classes.

Sunwoo smiles into the blinding sunshine as he crosses the streets quickly to the subway station. He boards a train quickly, standing close to the doors.

A group of rowdy boys clamber on after him, jostling Sunwoo and parading down the car. Sunwoo glares after them and clutches his backpack protectively. He leaves the train at the next station and takes a bus instead. 

The bus is equally packed. Where is everyone _going_ today, anyway?

It’s just a few days before Halloween, and Eric has been working his ass off planning the party. Sunwoo wants to pay his roommate back for his hard work somehow, and some enchanted flowers seem like a start.

An elderly woman badmouthes him and kicks him out of his seat. As he’s standing to make room for her, the driver slams on the brakes. Sunwoo staggers forward, his backpack slamming against the side of the bus as he stumbles for footing. _God,_ things were not happening the way they should be.

He practically sprints away from the bus the second the doors open. There was so much traffic Eric is probably home by now. 

Sunwoo throws the apartment door open. Eric gives him a questioning look as Sunwoo bends over, hands on his knees, to catch his breath.

“You good there?” Eric calls, grinning.

“I got something for you,” Sunwoo says, beaming.

“Oh!” Eric’s mouth shapes itself into a perfect little “o” as he makes his way over to Sunwoo. He claps his hands excitedly. “What is it, what is it?”

Sunwoo reaches into his backpack. The flowers he pulls out are shades of purple and pink, and they're crumpled and look like they were stomped on.

“Um,” Sunwoo says awkwardly. “They were intact when I bought them....”

Eric laughs and throws his arms around Sunwoo’s neck. “That’s okay. It was sweet of you to try.”

Sunwoo watches the flowers as they wilt and droop towards the floor. Enchanted or not, they were worth it to see the smile on Eric’s face right now.


	29. Anger

“Did you get Eric’s invitation yet?” Juyeon asks as he carefully holds Chanhee’s hand. The slender witch is balancing on top of the fence beside them, Juyeon keeping a watchful eye on his boyfriend in case of emergency.

“Yeah!” Chanhee hops down from the fence to beam up at him. “I’m so excited. What are you gonna wear?” He bundles into Juyeon’s side against the cold. Juyeon can’t help but beam as he wraps an arm around Chanhee’s shoulders. There’s something about the pink-haired witch that can warm his heart no matter the weather.

“No idea.” Juyeon draws Chanhee’s coat closer around the exposed skin of his neck to protect his delicate lover from the bite of the wind. “A werewolf, maybe?”

“Oh, now _that’s_ an original idea! How would you _ever_ pull that off?” Chanhee laughs. His smile dips a moment later. “I’m so glad I have you back.”

Juyeon takes Chanhee’s hands in his much larger ones. “I’m glad I found you.” He kisses his boyfriend’s forehead as he becomes aware of a pair of eyes watching them. “I’m glad you recovered.” 

Juyeon guides them into a shop that’s already started decorating for Christmas. He holds the door open for Chanhee and says, before he can change his mind, “I’ll be right there.”

Chanhee gives him a quizzical look but only says, “Alright.” 

Juyeon waits a few moments before turning around. “What?” He asks Jaehyun.

“You two found each other,” the witch says sulkily. “Didn’t think it’d happen that fast.”

Juyeon’s lip curls. “Right, cause you cursed him.”

Jaehyun’s eyes blaze with anger. “I had every right to curse him!”

Juyeon clenches his fists. He grabs Jaehyun by the collar and drags him into the alley. “Every right? Chanhee never did anything wrong! He did _nothing_ to you!”

“He took you away from me—”

“I never belonged to you,” Juyeon hisses. 

Jaehyun blinks.

“I left you because I wanted to. And yes, it was for Chanhee. But you can’t blame him for that. Although I’m sure it’s more tempting than blaming me.” Juyeon grips his hair with his hands and sighs. “Your problem’s with me, okay? So leave Chanhee out of it.”

Jaehyun looks down awkwardly. “I’m sorry.”

Juyeon looks at him in surprise. “You are?”

“I mean… breakups are a normal thing. And I guess it’s better that you get to be with the person you love rather than staying with me out of obligation.” Jaehyun shuffles his feet. “So like… I’m sorry for cursing your boyfriend. I really had no right to act out of spite the way I did.”

“I’m not the only one you need to apologize to. Chanhee’s the one you took memories from. He _forgot me.”_

“I know, I know—”

“So you’re lucky you’re getting an opportunity on Saturday.”

Jaehyun blinks up at him. “What?”

“Eric’s Halloween party.” Juyeon shoots him a knowing smile. “We’ll see you there, right?”

Jaehyun’s lips part. “Oh— yeah, yeah, for sure.”

“Well, then….” Juyeon steps back to the shop as Chanhee emerges from the door, digging around in a shopping bag stuffed to the brim. He wraps an arm around the short witch’s shoulders and calls back over his shoulder, “See you then!”

Chanhee shoots a questioning look over his shoulder to see where Juyeon’s remark is directed to. The alley where Jaehyun was standing is already empty.


	30. Trick

“Is _that_ your costume?” Haknyeon, hand locked with Hyunjoon’s, cackles at Sangyeon as the older boy stands uncertainly in the doorway.

“You got a problem with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?” Sangyeon defends himself.

“He lost a bet with Eric,” Younghoon explains as he passes by on his way to the kitchen. 

“Oh yeah? What’d Eric get?”

“Ask Sunwoo.” Younghoon wiggles his eyebrows and disappears.

Haknyeon turns to where Sunwoo, dressed as a werewolf— much to Juyeon’s amusement— is lurking around the corner. “Not fair,” Sunwoo mutters. “Not fucking fair.”

“What’s Eric wearing?” Haknyeon mutters as he leaves the mopey masquerading human to join the rest of the group in the living room.

Eric, it turns out, isn’t wearing much of anything.

His legs are clad in fishnet tights, with short leather shorts and a crop top that is still several sizes too small. His bomber jacket is riding up as he holds a baseball bat behind his shoulders with both hands.

“Harley Quinn?” Haknyeon gasps in disbelief. “He bet Sangyeon for Harley Quinn?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we got the better end of the deal,” Hyunjoon admits. “Like, only one of them could’ve pulled off this costume, let’s be real.”

Haknyeon turns back to where Eric is chatting with Changmin and Chanhee. Chanhee is dressed as a vampire, while Changmin is an oversized squirrel. Juyeon, dedicated to his role as Woody from Toy Story, scrambles up from where he’d been sprawled on the floor. Haknyeon looks back, but Eric is gone now.

A shriek and several yelps come from behind them, and Haknyeon turns to see Jacob and Kevin have joined the party. 

Kevin is seething. “That little brat,” Kevin hisses. “The nerve! We come to his party and this is how he treats us….”

“What’s he doing now?” Hyunjoon asks in amusement. 

Jacob shakes his head. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. “You don’t wanna know.”

Haknyeon rolls his eyes, wondering what the imp is getting up to. Eric’s always been a prankster.

The next person to walk through the door comes dragging Eric in by his jacket. “Not funny,” Jaehyun huffs. “You literally gave me a heart attack. So, thanks for that, kid.”

Eric grins sheepishly. His tastefully running makeup twists as the imp changes his face into a horrifyingly grotesque monster. Jaehyun shrieks and drops him as Eric shifts back. 

“Oh, he’s just joking around,” Hyunjoon sighs. “It’s not that scary.”

“I’m gonna get Sunwoo,” Eric announces, and disappears.

“That’s not gonna go well,” Younghoon predicts.

The boys clump together in the living room, waiting for Sunwoo to come running in screaming his head off. They wait for about five minutes, and nothing happens. 

“Alright, I’m getting hungry,” Kevin sighs. “Can we call the kids back in and order pizza?”

“I’ll go find them, but I’m _not_ going alone.” Hyunjoon drags Haknyeon with him back to the kitchen where Sunwoo was sulking.

They find the two boys together, and much closer together than they were hoping for.

“Oh, fucking knock it off,” Haknyeon groans. “I didn’t want to see that.”

Sunwoo leans against the kitchen counter, Eric standing between his legs. Sunwoo’s hands are creeping under Eric’s short shorts, and his werewolf costume looks like it has more scratch marks than intended.

Sunwoo lifts his head. “Oh, is it time to eat?”

“Looks like you already started without us,” Hyunjoon grumbles, eyeing the bite marks on Eric’s neck.

Eric blushes despite his revealing costume of choice. “Uh… gotchu, I guess?”

“Yes, that was a terrifying prank,” Haknyeon remarks dryly. 

Eric shifts his face into the Two-Face villain from Batman, and Haknyeon and Hyunjoon run screaming.


	31. Treat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everyone!!

They pile into the living room, balancing plates of pizza on their laps and juggling bowls of popcorn.

“What are you supposed to be?” Younghoon squints at Kevin. “A slutty witch?”

“Yes, but my costume is a grim reaper,” Kevin explains.

“And you’re some basketball guy, I presume,” Chanhee remarks of Jacob, settling back against Juyeon’s chest as Eric and Sunwoo sort through movies for their marathon.

Jacob brightens. “Yeah, I’m—”

“Don’t bother, I wouldn’t recognize the name,” Chanhee says with a flap of his hand.

“Alright folks, here are the options!” Eric holds up 3 DVDs.

“Fuck no, I’m not watching Happy Feet on Halloween.” Hyunjoon kicks the DVD to the other side of the room.

“....Okay then!” Sunwoo presents the other two choices. “We can do The Incredibles or Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“Neither of those are Halloween themed,” Sangyeon observes.

Eric and Sunwoo exchange a glance. “Well, yeah, but there’s costumes…” Eric tries.

“C’mon, pick a real movie!” Changmin encourages.

“Fine, then, pick one yourself,” Eric huffs. He turns his back to them, effectively missing the dangerous glint that comes to Changmin’s eye.

The boys chat amongst themselves, Chanhee and Jaehyun conversing reluctantly while Jacob and Kevin make out on half the couch.

Finally, the movie choice is presented. 

Changmin slides to the back of the group, grinning with glee. The boys, oblivious to his plan, settling in accordingly.

It’s a movie that starts normal enough. They have no idea what they’re in for.

The next two and a half hours are filled with terrified shrieking, Jacob hiding in the bathroom, Sangyeon cowering behind the couch, and Chanhee attempting to bludgeon Haknyeon with a chair. 

When the movie finishes, the boys are rattled and shaken to the bone. Only Changmin is left grinning, the final trick master as the night comes to an end.

“That wasn’t fair,” Sunwoo whimpers. “Can’t believe you did that to us.”

“You know,” Eric swallows. “When they say _trick or treat,_ there’s supposed to be an equal balance.” 

“Yeah!” Kevin turns on Changmin. “Do you have something to say for yourself?” He holds a still-shaking Jacob in his arms. The undead man whines and tries to hide himself in his boyfriend’s cloak.

“Hehe,” the elf laughs nervously as all attention turns to him. Though phrased more like a question, Changmin holds up his arms triumphantly as he says, “Happy Halloween!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much to everyone for supporting this challenge and leaving kind comments! it really helped motivate me to get through every day and im so happy i managed to complete it! thank you to the creator and credits to them for the wonderful prompts for this month <3


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